Gyrofly toy



Oct. 23, 1934. I J EBERHART 1,978,189

. GYRQFLY TOY Filed March 2, 1955 ATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 23, 1934 V rmaisa cYRo'FLy 'r'oY];

John Eberhart, Washington Township, 1

Shelby County, Ind.

Application March 2, 1933, Serial No. 659,326

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a toy device of the type that is designed to operate in a novel and attractive manner and to be recovered and repeatedly put into operation, the invention having reference more particularly to a toy adapted to be manually handled for initial control and operation and capable of attractive flight when put into operation.

An object of the invention is to provide an im- 1 1 P oved flying device which shall be of light weight so as to not be destructive in operation, or injurious to furniture or other articles when operating in dwellings or other places of habitation, school rooms or nurseries. W Another object is to provide an improved flying toy which shall be of such construction as to be quiet and harmless in operation and adapted to be repeatedly recovered and operated without entailing material cost or expense, and which 544 y be manufactured inexpensively in quantities for marketing at low cost.

A further object is to provide an improved toy device which shall be of such construction as to be operated in-doorswithout violent actions and not be likely to become materially injured as result of its operations, and which may be durable and economical in use.

With the above-mentioned and other objects in view, the invention consists in agyro-fly toy of novel construction and mode of operation and in the parts and combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter particularly described and further definitely claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,-- Figure I is a perspective view of the complete toy illustrating the manner in which it may be handled and adjusted so as to be qualified for self-propulsion; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a rubber band suitable for use asan energizing .540 part of the toy, onan enlarged scale; Fig. Bis a fragmentary perspective view on an enlarged scale more clearly showing the actuating parts of the toy; and Fig. 4 is an elevation of the toy shown as being inposition for operation.

Similar reference characters in the various figures of the drawing indicate corresponding elements or features of the invention herein referred. to in detail. 1

The toy has a body part 5 which may be composed of light weight wood and rectangular in cross-section, of any suitable length and thickness to constitute a shaft, and at suitable distance from its head end a clasp is arranged thereon comprising a back plate 6 having opposite side plates ,55 7 and. 8, each side plate having a hole 9 therein through which the stem 10 of a feather is inserted so as to bear against the body part, to ordinarily hold the clasp and the feather in place but permitting readjustment of the parts if desired. The head end of the body part is provided with a 0 head part 11 which extends laterally from one side thereof and has a base plate 12 secured to the opposite side of the body part. The head part has a suitable box member 13 through which a shaft 14 rotatively extends, the upper end of the Q shaft having a crank arm 15 thereon that is provided at its end with a spur 16, and the opposite end of the shaft 14 has a hook 17 thereon. The stem 18 of another feather is arranged upon the head 11 so that the shaft 14 passes through it as 7 does also the spur 16, to enable the feather to rotate the shaft The feathers may be artificial but usually are natural wing feathers of a bird or fowl, each feather having a narrow vane 19 and a broad vane 20, and they are so set relatively to other parts that the feathers project laterally relatively to the body part and so that in normal operation the narrow vane 19 turns in advance of the broad vane and in a slightly higher plane and forces the toy upwardly in the atmosphere. The normally lower or tail end of the body part 5 has a notch or slot 21 thereon.

As a convenient and inexpensive actuating device, a common form of rubber band is made use of and comprises parallel strands 22 and 23 and end ,85 loops 24 and 25, one loop being drawn into the notch 21 and the opposite loop connected to the hook 17 of the crank shaft so that when the crank shaft is manually rotated in one direction while the body part 5 is held by hand as indicated in Fig. 1 the band becomes twisted one strand over the other and has a natural tendency to untwist and thus transmit rotary force in the opposite direction. The tail end of the body part 5 has a flexible tail part 26 secured thereto to cause fluttering and gyroaction in flight of the toy. I

In practical use the body part is held by one hand, between the thumb and a finger while the crank shaft is turned by means of the feather attached thereto, in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1 until the rubber band is twisted throughout its length so as to have the desired amount of stored energy, after which the body part is held in approximately vertical arrangement and quickly released, resulting in the turning of the wings composed of feathers in the di--* rection indicated by the arrows in Fig. 4, and as the actuating force comprising the twisted rubber band continues to expend its stored up energy the toy rises and flutters about in the air and performs various antics and gyroeffects until the actuating force has been expended, so that lacking the motive power the toy gently descends to the ground or a compartment floor and may be recovered and repeatedly used.

What is claimed is:

A toy, comprising a shaft, a head-part secured to one end of said shaft and projecting outwardly beyond one side thereof, said shaft having a notch in its other end, a flexible tail secured to said notched end on the side opposite to that beyond which said head-part projects, said shaft being of uniform rectangular cross-section for a substantial distance below said head, a clamp embracing three sides of said shaft and slidable along said rectangular portion, the ends of said clamp projecting beyond the fourth side of said shaft and provided with alined holes, a feather having its butt extending through said holes and bearing against said fourth side to hold said clamp and feather firmly on said shaft and frictionally against longitudinal sliding along said shaft, a crank journaled in said head-part and provided therebelow with a hook, at second feather secured to said crank above said head part, and an elastic band engaged in said crank-hook and said shaft-notch, said two feathers being adapted to be rotated by said band in opposite directions with their narrow edges leading.

JOHN EBERI-IART. 

